I never really understood why some Convertibles are called be crazysince Spiders are scary and generally unwanted creatures and not little sporty topless fun machines. There are a few possible origins for this mashup of automobile-arachnidian nomenclature: one lies in a poor translation and one is contemporary Horse-drawn carriage days. Regardless of the true origins, both stories offer a fascinating look behind the scenes of automotive history.
The funny story that perpetuated the legend is this Italian The journalist visited a car show and saw a street-legal car without a roof. It was the same car As is well known, James Dean died in a tragic accident. The Porsche 550 Speeder. This was the late 1950s, so there was no live tweeting, no Tick tock or Instagram Live and no YouTube to share videos on, forcing the journalist to call his Italian colleagues and tell them the news. The connection was poor so his team had a hard time understanding him, but they understood that the car had no roof. Accordingly JD Power, His journalist’s magazine published the news about the Porsche 550 Speeder, but wrote the model name as “Spider” instead of “Speeder”.
The more likely etymology of the term spider has its roots deep in history, before the age of the automobile. In the late 18th century Coachbuilder manufactured Spider-Phaeton carriages, which were light and not intended for cross-country travel. Think of them as sports carriages. These wagons also had removable roofs and removable side windows, similar to a modern convertible. Legend has it that these sporty convertible cars were equipped with large wooden wheels with thin spokes that looked vaguely like spiders, which is why they were called “spiders.”
Once cars came and helped Horses Because of their duty, the concept of a spider remained the same. The term “spider” referred to lightweight, topless cars with large spider-like wheels that were intended for fun rather than cross-country travel. Nowadays mostly a term used by European and Asian car manufacturers. Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Fiat, Lamborghini, Maserati, McLaren, Mazda, Porsche and Toyota have all used the term Spider to classify their convertibles, to name a few.
Why do some car manufacturers spell the word? spider with an I and some with the letter Y? It’s actually just a stylistic choice. The Italian alphabet is missing the letter Y, so most Italian spiders are spelled like “Arachnid,” while other companies choose to spell it Spyder. There are no differences between the vehicle ethos of a Spider and a Spyder, just a single letter.
As a big fan of ConvertiblesI’m surprised I didn’t know the etymology of this automotive terminology. Regardless of what it’s called, there’s something enchanting about a sporty, lightweight topless mode of transportation that has resonated with humans for hundreds of years, and I hope to see many more spiders in the future. I couldn’t have imagined that, but you know what I mean.
